2013 Personal Chef Summit October 10-12, Baltimore, Maryland

2013 APPCA Personal Chef SummitAGENDA

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10

8 a.m. – 5 p.m. APPCA Accelerated “Jump Start” Seminar (optional)
Aspiring personal chefs who want to acquire the tools to start their own successful businesses AND attend the 2013 APPCA Personal Chef Summit in Baltimore can save $200 by purchasing APPCA’s special Summit/training bundle. If you’re looking for the ultimate in how to start your own personal-chef service, then this accelerated version of the Original Live Two-day Seminar is for you. This training program consists of all the materials and benefits of the APPCA’s popular option A Home-Study Course PLUS a confirmed seat at a nine-hour seminar preceding the 2013 Summit. This fast-paced special training opportunity at Stratford University prior to the Summit will provide you with a detailed analysis of getting your business up and running in the shortest time possible with optimal return on your investment. The APPCA’s founder and executive director, Candy Wallace, will cover the concepts, details and tricks of the trade. Leave the seminar with the information necessary to complete your specific business plan (road map) to success as a personal chef. You’ll also be armed with a targeted marketing plan and support network to guide you on your journey.Fee: $1,099 includes personal-chef training/APPCA membership and full registration to the 2013 APPCA Personal Chef Summit. Click here for more info.

Noon – 4:30 p.m. Urban Farms & Lunch at Waterfront Kitchen (optional)
Before you immerse yourself in two days of professional development designed to help you expand your personal-chef business, join your colleagues on a tour of two thriving urban farms, preceded by a private lunch at one of Baltimore’s hottest eateries known for its commitment to food sustainability. The afternoon begins with a multi-course experience of the freshest flavors, expertly delivered via creative-yet-familiar dishes and paired with wines. We’ll gather in the Greenhouse of Waterfront Kitchen, a seed-to-plate restaurant featuring spirited American cooking that’s committed to sourcing ingredients as locally and seasonally as possible. Our host will be nationally acclaimed chef, restaurateur and wine connoisseur Jerry Pellegrino. After lunch, we’ll visit two vibrant, productive farms—one small and one large—with tours led by Maya Kosok, a community fellow with Farm Alliance Baltimore. Our first stop will be Hidden Harvest Farm, a half-acre urban farm owned by Tara Megos. Hidden Harvest’s goal is to create a beautiful and bountiful space in which flowers, fruit, vegetables, insects, birds and humans live harmoniously. Next, we’ll visit the largest urban farm in Baltimore, Real Food Farm—Civic Works’ innovative urban-agricultural enterprise engaged in growing fresh produce on a 6-acre site. With the help of a handful of dedicated farmers, this farm operates an orchard of fruit trees, field crops, a hoophouse tunnel, herb garden and seed-starting house. An apiary enables crop pollination and creates local honey. Following our tour of Real Food Farm, we’ll transport participants to their respective APPCA host hotels in time for the 2013 Personal Chef Summit’s Welcome Reception at Stratford University.Fee: $65 (includes lunch with wines, tax, tip and transportation to all venues). Meet at 11:30 a.m. in the lobby of the Fairfield Inn & Suites Baltimore Downtown/Inner Harbor, 101 President Street, for transport to restaurant. Limited to 22 participants on a first-come basis. Click here for more info.

6 – 7:30 p.m. Welcome Reception
Welcome to the 2013 APPCA Personal Chef Summit! Grab a beverage and enjoy delicious hors d’oeuvres among friends and peers. Be on hand when the APPCA honors recipients of this year’s Serving Spoon Awards for Excellence. Following this opening event at our Summit venue, Stratford University, your evening is free to explore some of the nation’s best dining located within easy walking in Little Italy and the Inner Harbor and a short cab ride to downtown Baltimore.Fee: Included in full registration. Guest fee: $50

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11

(Enjoy complimentary breakfast as a registered guest at one of the Summit’s two official host hotels.)

8:30 – 9 a.m. Welcome to the 2013 APPCA Personal Chef Summit!Candy Wallace, the APPCA’s founder and executive director, officially welcomes guests to the most comprehensive and meaningful convocation of personal chefs in the country. During this opening presentation, Wallace will share the critical thinking behind this year’s Summit theme—“CONNECT, RECHARGE, REFRESH: Power up Your Personal-Chef Business in Today's Changing Marketplace”—and what it means to YOU and your business in 2014.

9 – 10:30 a.m. “The Four P’s of Success: Passion, Personal, Proficiency and Profit”Keynote Presenter: Bernard Henry, chef/owner, Chef Bernard, LLC As personal chefs, our jobs require creativity, nerves of steel, passion, focus, good physical health, business savvy, etc. Add up all the hours spent on marketing, crafting proposals, visiting first-time customers, exploring party venues, shopping, cooking and delivering our pallet of services, and what we’re earning per hour translates into considerably less than what we expected when we started our businesses. Don’t we deserve to bring home (and keep) more hard-earned income?
Bernard Henry, owner of Chef Bernard, LLC, serving metropolitan Washington, D.C., agrees with the APPCA that the personal-chef industry is on the cusp of skyrocketing, resulting in more people and companies seeking and paying for our services. How do we reinvent ourselves to ride that phenomenal wave coming our way? What can we do better to reap higher benefits and income?
Capitalizing on his own success with his business, Henry (who works only 10 months of the year) will reveal how personal chefs can envision—and realize—a six-figure PROFIT, achieved by being more selective and focused without diminishing drive and passion for cooking. He’ll address effective marketing tactics and strategy, weekly menu development, shopping, job organization, renting a commercial kitchen, storage, cooking, portioning, labeling, delivering, invoicing, producing a weekly P&L, and follow-up with customers. And, how to say no to customers who don’t fit your business plan. Additionally, Henry will reveal how he gradually increased his weekly income without compromising or detracting from the promise of “personal” in his job title … and his life.

10:30 – 10:45 a.m. Refreshment Break

10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. “How to Grow Your Business with Technology”Presenters:Mark X. Dowling, CEC, CCE, Executive Chef, EscoffierOnline.com, Triumph Higher Education Group; Randall Sansom, chief academic officer, Triumph Higher Education Group; and Dennis Wallace, APPCA
What is an SEO? An organic search? Do you know how to optimize the power of Google beyond searching for key words? How to make your business’ website vibrant and attractive to lure new customers? These experts from Escoffier Online International Culinary Academy—an official partner of the APPCA—along with the APPCA’s own webmaster will reveal tips to harness easily accessible technology for the betterment of your personal-chef business, including following up on leads and signing on new clients. In a special section of this presentation, Chef Mark Dowling will discuss creating a culinary knowledge “ark.” (A brief special presentation from the Escoffier Online International Culinary Academy will follow.)

12:15 – 1:30 p.m. Networking Lunch

1:45 – 3:15 p.m. “What You and Your Clients Need to Know about Produce and Pesticides”Presenter: Scott Faber, vice president of government affairs, Environmental Working Group
Though the EPA has been restricting the uses of the most toxic pesticides, they are still detected on some foods. For example, green beans were on last year’s Plus list because they were often contaminated with two highly toxic organophosphates. Those pesticides are being withdrawn from agriculture. But leafy greens still show residues of organophosphates and other risky pesticides, and are on the Plus list for 2013. When given a choice, more consumers are choosing organic fruits and vegetables or using the Environmental Working Group’s Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ to find an easy, affordable way to avoid toxic chemicals. In this presentation from the nation’s leading environmental health research and advocacy organization, personal chefs will learn which fruits and vegetables are considered safest for their clients and which are best used sparingly if at all.

3:15 – 3:30 p.m. Refreshment Break

3:30 – 5 p.m. Special Presentation by Thomas P. McNulty, Chief Petty Officer, U.S. NavyNote from the APPCA: The Department of Defense restricts what may appear in text or print concerning McNulty’s title and role with the U.S. government. His presentation at the 2013 APPCA Personal Chef Summit will be both provocative and instructive.

EVENING ON OWN

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12

(Enjoy complimentary breakfast as a registered guest at one of the Summit’s two official host hotels.)

8:30 – 9 a.m. Welcome, Day 2 of the 2013 APPCA Personal Chef Summit
During this opening half-hour presided over by Candy Wallace, Dennis Nosko and Christine Robinson—chefs and owners of A Fresh Endeavor serving greater Boston—will share highlights and life-lesson anecdotes from nearly 15 years of operating a successful personal-chef business. Particularly to those who are newer to the career path, Robinson says, “If you play it right, you can stay in business and make it what you want/need it to be.”

9 – 10:30 a.m. “Hello, Habits, Happiness and Healing”Keynote Presenter: Dr. Fred Mayo, principal, Mayo Consulting Services, Inc.We face daily challenges that represent opportunities about how we want to see and live our lives. Our bodies and minds set patterns that might have helped us in the past and that might have also left ways of doing things that are no longer useful or effective. In this session, we will learn from a returning APPCA Summit keynoter who wowed us in Las Vegas how we are hard-wired, in our nervous systems, to experience the world in certain ways and how we can change that wiring and liberate ourselves to have a happier and more fulfilling life. We will learn new ways to say hello to persons, experiences and ourselves; examine ways we can change our current habits; and expand the happiness in our lives.
We can heal and change. Come learn what the newest research says and find out ways to expand the joy in your life, even with all the ups and downs and daily challenges.

10:30 – 10:45 a.m. Refreshment Break

10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. BREAKOUT SESSIONS A (Choose 1 of 2)

“Cook Like a Star Chef in Your Clients’ Kitchens”Presenter: Bernard Henry, chef/owner, Chef Bernard, LLC
Based on his own success as a personal chef servicing a vast array of client types coupled with his prior career as an executive chef, Bernard Henry of Chef Bernard, LLC, serving metropolitan Washington, D.C. (and host of a soon-to-debut PBS cooking series), will wow participants in this breakout session with some fun, marketable and—most important—flavorful cooking and presentation techniques that will inspire personal chefs to impress their clients.
Demonstrations will include the art of “anything” tartar (seafood, meat, vegetarian, vegan) and the use of out-of-the-box presentation ideas; herb and garlic mussels, an alternative to classic escargot to introduce clients to this delectable shellfish; soups as cocktail foods and appetizers “cappuccino style,” such as gazpacho with anchovy-infused foam; and transforming a whole pineapple into a beautiful and delicious salt-crusted pineapple with orange-vanilla Grand Marnier syrup, green-tea ice cream and ground pistachio.

“Saving Time in Your Client’s Home … Including Your Cooking Time with a Pressure Cooker”Presenter: Lou Garcia, chef/consultant
A pressure cooker can be a personal chef’s best friend and hardest worker on any cookdate. Indeed, says Candy Wallace, no personal chef should be without one! Featuring equipment manufactured by category leader Fagor, Garcia will demonstrate why there is nothing to fear from using a pressure cooker, especially when used in conjunction with a portable induction cooktop. Lasagna and risotto in only seven minutes? Not only doable, but delicious. The power of the pressure cooker to help you build your brand with your clients is prodigious. Garcia has even made cheesecake in a PC! In this fun, interesting and educational presentation, he’ll also point out some time-saving techniques he’s developed over the years using relatively inexpensive tools and devices.

12:15 – 1:30 p.m. Dine with the Experts
Enjoy lunch prepared by Stratford University, and then hear best business practices from the owners of three thriving personal-chef businesses on a panel moderated by Candy Wallace: Javier Fuertes of The Dinner Maker serving central Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire; Jim Huff of Traveling Culinary Artist serving metro New York City and Nassau County; and Dennis Nosko and Christine Robinson of A Fresh Endeavor serving greater Boston.

1:45 – 3:15 p.m. BREAKOUT SESSIONS B (Choose 1 of 2)

“From Snapshots to Great Shots: Styling and Photographing Your Culinary Creations”Presenter:Carol Borchardt, chef/owner, A Thought For Food Personal Chef Service, Memphis, Tenn. What do scrap lumber, aluminum foil and foam project boards all have in common? These items can all be used to create professional-looking photographs for your website, blog and marketing materials. Says the APPCA’s 2010 Personal Chef of the Year, it’s important that chefs learn how to photograph their food because it is the product they produce. Borchardt’s culinary creations are featured on a biweekly basis in the food section of Memphis’ newspaper, The Commercial Appeal. Along with developing recipes and writing the column, she styles and photographs each dish for the feature. In this breakout session, learn how you can style your food and take great photos with a minimal investment in supplies and equipment. Borchardt will cover lighting basics, basic camera settings, composition and tricks used by professionals to create mouthwatering photos.

“Power and Positive Energy of Planning”Presenter:Dr. Fred Mayo, principal, Mayo Consulting Services, Inc.
Many of us develop to-do lists (other than MEP and shopping lists) and even create strategic plans for our businesses and our lives. Those plans, however, often become great notebooks and files, but not part of our daily lives. A plan can be a creative act, and planning can become a growing process. In this workshop, learn new ways to plan and drop some old patterns that make us feel guilty or ashamed about what we don’t get done. Plans and lists can become our friends and not our enemies; learning to use them creatively can to help liberate us from the “woulda, shoulda, coulda” dynamic and introduce a new approach to planning and doing.

3:15 – 3:30 p.m. Refreshment Break

3:30 – 5 p.m. BREAKOUT SESSIONS C (Choose 1 of 2)

“Buffets and Banquets: How to Please a Crowd”Presenter:April Lee, chef/owner, Tastefully Yours, Ellicott City, Md., and president, Mid-Atlantic Regional Chapter of the APPCASo, you’ve got your meal-service cook jobs down to a science now, that’s great! Then one day, one of your clients asks you to cook for a 70th birthday party for 80 to 100 people. Or you’ve been asked by a client to cater an annual office holiday reception for 150? Now what?
Which dishes work best on a buffet? What doesn’t work? What kind of equipment is needed? How much food do you need? How to best display your food for a buffet? In this breakout session, Lee will answer these questions and more, and will share invaluable guidelines and tips on how to successfully execute large events. Lee’s 20+ years as a professional events and meetings planner for national trade associations in the broadcasting industry combined with her culinary experience gives her a unique perspective and understanding for carrying out large events and how to please a crowd.

“What’s New in Nutrition: A Guide to Cooking Based on the Latest and Greatest Nutrition Recommendations”Presenter:Cheryl Frazier-Trusty, MS, RD, LDN, adjunct professor, Stratford University, Baltimore; registered dietitian, Riverview Rehabilitation and Health Center, Essex, Md.; and consultant, Dietitians on Demand
More clients than ever before seek flavorful, palate-specific meals that accommodate a variety of dietary needs. This lecture and cooking demo will focus on the latest nutrition recommendations for low-fat/low-sodium, diabetic and gluten-free diets with an emphasis on incorporating palatability and flavor into dishes in spite of dietary restrictions. Personal chefs will learn from the 2006 Young Dietitian of the Year by the Maryland Dietetic Association how to mix and match ingredients to obtain the best flavor and texture from whole foods—wowing clients by meeting their dual demand for health and satiety.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13

8 a.m. – Noon APPCA Interactive Booster Session (optional)
Don’t go home just yet, because we’ve got more! Personal chefs who want to expand their marketing tool kits to enhance their businesses in 2014 will benefit from this half-day Booster Session that will provide you with an updated, refreshed business plan for the year. If you have not attended an APPCA Live Seminar before, this is your opportunity to experience the powerful dynamic of a lively group interactive process—at minimal cost if you purchase the session and Summit bundle. Candy Wallace, the APPCA’s founder and executive director, will lead an open brainstorming session at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Baltimore Downtown/Inner Harbor (101 President Street) to highlight new ideas for promoting your operation, with particular focus on what is working well for you and what is not—and how to turn around practices that aren’t producing results. We’ll wrap up promptly at 12 p.m. so you can easily make your afternoon flight from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI).Fee: Sold (1) as a bundle with Summit registration for a total of $499 or (2) as a bundle with Summit registration plus the Accelerated “Jump Start” Seminar on Oct. 10 for a total of $1,249. Click here for more info.